Mendocino County police roundup

Authorities are investigating the death of an inmate found dead in his cell Friday, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

A corrections deputy working in the Mendocino County Adult Detention Facility's Building One found Scott Joseph Smith, 65, unconscious and not breathing in his cell at 7:47 a.m. Sept. 13, the MCSO reported.

Smith's cell housed three other inmates. He had been held at the jail under $100,000 bail since his Feb. 4 arrest on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer and failing to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge.

Smith was due in court for sentencing Friday afternoon.

The Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner's Office and Mendocino County District Attorney's Office will investigate the death "pursuant to standard policy and procedure," the MCSO stated.

Guns drawn on Philo neighbor-dispute call

Deputies drew their sidearms while responding to a Thursday night call for service in Philo, where a man allegedly ran at them carrying a pistol, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies were summoned at 7:15 p.m. Sept. 12 to the 11800 block of Hungry Hollow Road in Philo for a report of a neighbor dispute. The caller told deputies that Brandon Johnson, 34, of Philo, had possibly shot another neighbor's dog the day before, and that he was in the road near his home playing loud music and shouting obscenities, according to the MCSO.

As they approached Johnson's driveway, deputies heard him shouting obscenities and saw an unoccupied pickup truck parked at the driveway's entrance, according to the MCSO. They identified themselves and shouted at Johnson to meet them at the base of the driveway near the truck.

Johnson allegedly ran toward the deputies holding a metal object, which deputies identified as a pistol when Johnson was within about 15 feet of them, according to the MCSO.

Deputies took cover and drew their sidearms for protection, the MCSO stated. Johnson stopped and allegedly pointed the weapon at the deputies briefly before tossing it in the bed of the pickup truck.

Deputies quickly arrested Johnson on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and added a charge of having a firearm while prohibited after learning he wasn't allowed to possess firearms because of a past conviction and a current domestic violence restraining order against him.

Johnson was booked at the Mendocino County Jail under $200,000 bail.

Quick response stops Hwy. 1 oil spill

A Tuesday oil spill on Highway 1 in Fort Bragg was cleaned up before leaking into storm drains after a quick response by a driver, police and fire responders, according to the Fort Bragg Police Department.

Officers were summoned at 5:40 p.m. Sept. 10 to the 400 block of South Main Street for a report of a crash. Witnesses said the vehicle had left, but officers noticed a large amount of motor oil in the northbound slow land of Highway 1, according to the FBPD.

The oil trail led them to a Ford motorhome stopped on Hazel Street. The driver, a 29-year-old Canada man, told officers he was headed north in the slow lane when his low-oil indicator light came on and the motorhome's engine shut off.

The drier turned off of Main Street onto Hazel Street and discovered that his oil filter had come off and that his engine had been pumping oil onto the road. He immediately put rags under the vehicle to keep the oil from getting into the drainage system, according to the FBPD.

Officers summoned the Fort Bragg Fire Department, which used absorbents to stop the flow of oil, which kept the oil out of the storm drains, according to the FBPD. Officers notified Caltrans which responded to clean up the highway. The Highway 1 slow lane was closed for about an hour.